Tesla’s first-quarter profits plunged by more than two-thirds amid a backlash against the electric car company which has damaged sales and sent its stock plunging
World’s richest man Elon Musk has said the time he spends with Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) will “drop significantly” from May and he will allocate more time to Tesla.
The billionaire, who also owns SpaceX and a number of other companies, announced the amount of time he spends in the role will decreased from next month as Tesla’s first-quarter profits plunged by more than two-thirds amid a backlash against the electric car company which has damaged sales and sent its stock plunging – the Press Association reports.
Tesla, based in Austin, Texas, said on Tuesday that quarterly profits fell by 71% to to 409 million dollars (£308 million), or 12 cents a share – far below analyst estimates. Revenue fell 9% to 19.3 billion dollars (£14.5 billion) in the January-March period, below Wall Street’s forecast.
Tesla’s stock has fallen more than 40% this year but rose slightly in after-hours trading.
The disappointing results come as the company struggles to sell cars to consumers angry over Mr Musk’s role in the Trump administration.
He has also publicly supported far-right politicians in Europe – including Germany’s Alternative for Deutschland and alienated potential buyers there.
In the UK Mr Musk has publicly criticised Prime Minister Keir Starmer and expressed support for jailed far-right figure Tommy Robinson.
Some Tesla investors have complained Mr Musk is too distracted by his role at the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) to be running Tesla and that he should either relinquish his position as CEO or abandon his advisory role in Washington.
Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein said earlier reports of plunging sales that had tanked the stock made the results almost predictable.
“They’re not particularly surprising given that deliveries were down,” he said, adding that the company is still generating cash. “It was good to see positive cash flow.”
The company generated 2.2 billion dollars (£1.6 billion) in operating cash versus 242 million dollars (£182 million) a year earlier.